Bronwen Davies is not only disinterested in marrying well, she has turned her back upon society, to live as freely as she can in the wilds of Northallerton, where she lives with her cousin Lilly and Lilly’s husband, Jasper.

Jasper’s half-brother, the Archeduke Edvard Christoffer of Silkeborg, arrives at Northallerton without warning, asking for temporary sanctuary from the pressures of his public life. There, he finds Bronwen, a most distracting diversion. Only, Bronwen’s unexpected opinions and forthright manner prove to be far more seductive than a simple distraction should be…

Mask of Nobility is the fourth book in the spin-off series following the historical romances of Scandalous Sirens. Scandalous Scions brings together the members of three great families, to love and play under the gaze of the Victorian era’s moralistic, straight-laced society.

If you are familiar with the previous series, I am sure you fell in love with the huge family like I did.

Excerpt

Bronwen moved over to where the driver was bent over the end of the axle. “Did you lose the pin?”

The driver straightened, startled. He swore, bringing his hand to his chest.

Bronwen kicked at the wheel. “It looks whole.”

The man glared at her from under his thick, silver brows. “Bloody pin sheered right off. If I can get the other end out, then I can put a temporary pin in place and be on my way.” He glanced from Bronwen to Agatha, who was hovering near the rear corner of the carriage. “Or I might be if you two’d be men. How on earth I’m supposed to get the wheel back on…”

“One thing at a time,” Bronwen told him. “Get the remains of the pin out first.”

He glared at her. He looked as though he was building up to a pithy reply.

“Where are your passengers?” Bronwen asked, deflecting his ire. Through the leaning window, she could see the carriage was empty.

The driver scowled again and jerked his head toward the trees on the other side of the road. “He be inside, taking…well, a moment to himself, so to speak.”

“Just the one, then. Well, let’s look at the pin to start.”

Agatha tugged on Bronwen’s skirt. She turned her chin, toward the woods.

Bronwen heard the cracking and crunching of someone heavy moving through them. He was breathing hard. Harder than was justified for traversing a thin copse of ash trees that had lost most of their leaves.

Bronwen let her mouth curl down. He must be a London fop, unused to more exercise than lifting his brandy glass and knife and fork.

The man gasped. It was not a sound of exertion, but one of pain.

Bronwen started forward, toward the point where his noisy progress told her he would emerge from the trees. As she got closer, he shouldered his way through the bare branches, then staggered onto the verge at the side of the road.

He was a big man. That was the single impression Bronwen received before focusing upon his hand. He held the wrist tightly with the other hand, his fingers stretched taut.

Bronwen ran to him. “Let me see.” She reached for his hand, intending to push the white, stiff cuff and thick worsted jacket sleeve out of the way.

“It burns!” he breathed and dug the fingers of his other hand into the skin over the back of the injured one.

Bronwen saw the telltale rash. Stinging nettle. Yes, he was in pain.

She looked through the trees, searching for the big, broad leaves of a dock plant and spotted one at the foot of an ash. “Agatha, the dock plant. Would you mind?”

Agatha nodded and stepped into the trees to harvest a leaf.

Bronwen returned her attention to the man’s hand. He scratched with the other fingers. She slapped his hand away. “Don’t do that.”

His gaze met hers. Blue eyes, open wide in surprise. A blue that nature only provided not long before the sky turned to night black. “I beg your pardon?” he said, shocked.

“You’ll just make it worse, if you scratch. Hold your breath for moment and leave it alone.” She took his wrist and bent it, turning his hand over to see the palm and the underside of the fingers, looking for more burrs. “Did you brush your hand against the nettle when you were walking?”

“I must have. I don’t remember. My hand suddenly burned. It is the most excruciating…what is that?” he finished sharply, looking at the moist, green leaf Agatha held out to Bronwen.

“Relief,” Bronwen told him, taking the leaf.

“Another plant?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she turned his hand back over and wrapped the big leaf over the rash. There were no burrs left in his skin to remove. It must have been the lightest of contacts.

Bronwen held the leaf down with her fingers for a moment and watched him.

His expression was one of bewilderment and dismay. Then the dock leaf worked. She watched relief and growing awareness fill his face. His eyes met hers once more. “The pain is fading.”

“Yes.”

“That is extraordinary.”

“Not really.” She tapped the leaf. “Here, you can hold it in place. Leave it there for as long as you can.” She let go of his wrist and braced herself for the usual suspicion and fear to settle into his eyes. Witch was the least of the epithets leveled at her in the past. People didn’t trust what they didn’t understand.

His gaze shifted from her to Agatha. For a heartbeat she saw Agatha as a stranger would: An old woman with long, stringy gray hair, a wrinkled face and few teeth. A back bent from carrying burdens far beyond what any woman should bear. And a patience and immoveable will rising from a long lifetime lived alone.

Bronwen squared her shoulders, ready to spring to Agatha’s defense. It wouldn’t be the first time.

The man looked at the dock leave once more. “What is in the leaf?” he asked. “Something that counters the nettle sting, clearly, but what? What is the effective ingredient? Do you know?”

Bronwen’s surprise left her speechless.

His interested faded. “Unless it is merely an old wives’ tale you have remembered, that happens to work?”

The dismissive note whipped Bronwen into responding. “There is an acid compound in dock plants.”

“Not a base?” he replied, his interest lifting once more. “I’d have thought that to counter such a sting, a base would be needed.”

“It’s not a sting. It’s a burn. Mild acids alleviate that pain. If I’d had vinegar to hand, I could have used that, instead.”

“Then you know your chemicals,” he replied.

“As you do, apparently,” she shot back.

For a moment, they looked at each other.

He had thick, golden blonde hair above the blue eyes and was clean-shaven. His clothes were fine gentlemen’s garments, with a hint of European tailoring. His shoulders were wide, which matched his height and the size of his hand. The wrist she had glimpsed beneath the cuff was strong, too, which made him far more physical a man than the elegant suit and overcoat and bespoke tailoring suggested.

His square chin dipped. “I confess I am at the outer limits of my knowledge of chemicals. I suspect you know more than I. I would not have thought to find a complimentary plant to counter the first one.”

“Well, using dock plants is an old wives’ tale,” Bronwen admitted. “I wanted to know why it worked, so I learned.”

He nodded. It was a small movement. “Because knowledge is how the world becomes a better place.”

Wow, as soon as I started Tracy Cooper Posey’s first book in her new spin off I was hooked.

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Mask of Nobility

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7 reviews

Jan 12, 2018

by Katherine on Mask of Nobility

More of the Great Families please

Bronwen and Tor both understand societal expectations in the extreme. Yet both are ahead of their time in the way they think and struggle with what's expected of them.Of course this brings tension within and between themselves. This book looks at how they find a way to work around that. A great book with fantastic people.

Jan 11, 2018

by Debbiann on Mask of Nobility

Mask of Nobility

Another unconventional member of the family. This latest installment in the family saga had me just as hooked as a those that came before. How will Bronwen's story resolve itself with so many misunderstandings? I won't give away the story, but I promise you it's a great experience.

Jan 11, 2018

by Jill Gray on Mask of Nobility

Love the Great Family

I love this series that revolves around the Great Family and this book is a great addition to this continuing sags. Bronwen has never conformed to the rigid expectations of the ton until she meets Tor and that is exactly what she has to do in order to be in his world. This is a great read and I would highly recommend it and any of the other books in this series.

Jan 11, 2018

by Anonymous on Mask of Nobility

Loving Mask of Nobility

Strong-willed, refusing to bend to conventions, and unwilling to even look at a man for husband material, Bronwen is a character after my own heart. She lives life her way and even her mother, Princess Anne, cannot contain her penchant for doing things in the most unconventional ways. She hides herself away with her cousin Lilly and her husband, Jasper, in the country, reading her books and walking the fields and forests learning the folklore of medicinal plants from a local woman.

It is on one of these walks that they first encounter Jasper’s half-brother, Edvard. To her dismay, she finds herself interested in him and he seems to find her ability to provide intelligent discourse on multiple subjects fascinating. He thinks she is a commoner with no way for him to convince his council to allow him to marry her once their feelings establish themselves and she knows he is the Archduke of Silkeborg, far above her station.

Can they find a way to be together and is she willing to change her ways to fit into his society? More importantly, will he let her?

A wonderful story of strength, courage, and the ability to realize that love is worth everything if one will only try. I loved these characters and especially enjoyed revisiting some of the previous characters in this series and how the support Bronwen and Edvard in the Great Family tradition.

Jan 11, 2018

by Ingrid Savell on Mask of Nobility

A delightful story of love winning against the odds.

I loved these characters and the repartee they exchanged as she challenged him and he adjusts to the escape he has allowed himself from his life as a European royal.

What a contrast for him: from the freedom to discover and enjoy countryside life with a lover with unbridled passion then back to the strict conventions of the Victorian era but with even more limitationsbecause he has the responsibilities of being European royalty.

I enjoyed the different perspectives of the characters: a free spirit vs someone ruled by Society's judgement but the best part about this contrast is that it was a twist on the normal male and female roles forthis era!

Mask of Nobility is another wonderful addition to the Scandalous Scions series. I am thoroughly enjoying the exciting story of each family member of this series and better yet is the way these stories unfold! Author Tracy Cooper-Posey has a talent for making the characters so real, in a succinct way, that draws the reader's empathy while moving the action and adventure along at an exciting pace.

Jan 9, 2018

by Linda Ferpozzi on Mask of Nobility

Mask of Nobility

I love it when a romance is more than just a romance that's why I adored reading the story of free spirited, unconventional Bronwen who meets Archeduke Edvard Christoffer of Silkeborg (Tor) who is bound by restrictions and responsibilities. This pair definitely have chemistry and there is a certain charm to their encounters, Bronwen is direct and honest which Tor finds novel and refreshing. All in all this was a well-written and researched Victorian romance, the descriptions were just enough to picture everything from clothing, scenery & landscape and the dialogue and scenes flowed perfectly. This author is a great storyteller and I loved the wit and humor throughout the book, I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Jan 9, 2018

by Kathi Soniat on Mask of Nobility

Truly well-crafted and entertaining read!!

In a family which breaks many social norms; Bronwen has chosen to live in the countryside and live freely, sporting bare feet and a casual air. When the Archduke Edvard Christoffer of Silkborg is taking a break from his duties (and the young ladies hoping to be his wife) he goes to where he knows the rules are not so strict. Bronwen is a beautiful puzzle, and quite clever. “Tor”, as Edvard is going by to remain unknown, must fend for himself with no servants, and hike about the property.

A delightful relationship builds between Tor and Bronwen. She challenges him and teaches him her country ways. When duty calls, Tor says goodbye to Bronwen, as he would not ask her to give up her freedom. But as Bronwen misses Tor greatly – perhaps she can make the choice to rejoin society to become an appropriate match for him in his world.

Humorous and sexy – the extended family and their refusal to bow to societal norms creates a delightful glimpse into their version of the Victorian era.